Field Level Media
Sep 12, 2018
Jake Odorizzi came within five outs of producing the first no-hitter in Target Field history as the Minnesota Twins beat the New York Yankees 3-1 Wednesday night.
In the 722nd regular-season game since the Twins moved to their current stadium in 2010, Odorizzi (6-10) lost his no-hit bid when Greg Bird roped the 120th pitch into the left-center-field gap for an RBI double.
It nearly was the first no-hitter for the Twins since Francisco Liriano on May 3, 2011, in Chicago against the White Sox.
Immediately after Bird's hit, Odorizzi exited to a standing ovation and was replaced by Taylor Rogers. Rogers struck out rookie Gleyber Torres, and Trevor Hildenberger fanned Andrew McCutchen with Bird on second.
In 7 1/3 innings, Odorizzi allowed one run, issued three walks, struck out five and tied a career high with his 120 pitches.
Hildenberger also worked around a one-out single to Miguel Andujar in the ninth and recorded his sixth save in eight chances.
New York (90-56) capped a 4-5 road trip and saw its lead over Oakland in the wild-card race trimmed to one game.
Odorizzi entered the seventh at 102 pitches but needed seven pitches to get Andujar on a comebacker to the mound, Giancarlo Stanton on a pop-up to second base and Didi Gregorius on a fly ball to the warning track in left field.
Odorizzi started the eighth by striking out Gary Sanchez on a 2-2 pitch and walking Luke Voit on a close check swing that annoyed the Twins.
Before the eighth, the only two runners to reach were Stanton and Sanchez on walks in the second and fifth, respectively. Sanchez made it to second on a stolen base but was stranded there.
New York's Luis Severino (17-8) nearly matched Odorizzi, allowing one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He retired 15 straight hitters before Max Kepler singled to left with one out in the sixth.
Kepler scored on Ehire Adrianza's sixth-inning double, and Minnesota added two runs an inning later off David Robertson on a single by Willians Astudillo and a double by Kepler.
--Field Level Media